Francis Ford Coppola receives lifetime achievement Oscar

The director, responsible for the Godfather films and Apocalypse Now, was presented with the Irving G Thalberg Memorial Award at a Los Angeles ceremony yesterday (November 14).

The award has only been presented 38 times since it was first handed out in 1937.

After Coppola was handed the award, director George Lucas addressed the audience, saying: “I have a great love of the original Hollywood tradition and admiration for the tradition of Irving Thalberg.”

Coppola‘s one time protege Lucas added: “[He was] my big brother and my mentor. He taught me how to write. He taught me how to direct. He actually personified a whole era of the American film industry. He was our leader. He was our inspiration.”

The Godfather: Part II actor Robert De Niro followed this up by saying the director was “an inspiration and one of my biggest influences”.